Qualicum Magical History Tours
- beverlybrendon
- Jan 16, 2020
- 12 min read
Updated: Apr 17
Closeup: The House at Milner Gardens
The house at Milner Gardens was designed by Qualicum architect Simon Mure Little and built by Alex Fraser Construction in 1931 for General Noel Money’s sister, Hilda Bayley and mother Emily. It’s built in the style of a Ceylonese tea plantation as Mrs. Bayley had once owned one. Little’s design reflects the Tudor Revival style of so many of his homes: multiple gables of different sizes, a steeply pitched roof and decorative side chimneys. The architect added two “bow” windows to the ground level to maximize natural light and sea views. The home has a ‘cottagey’ feel to it; Simon Little titles the house plan ‘The Cottage for Mrs. Bayley.’ It’s actually a sprawling 604 square meters, built over three levels, with a main floor, low-ceilinged basement and small rooms upstairs for servants.
The house originally had seven bedrooms, the four main floor ones with their own bathrooms, unusual for a 1930s house. Each bathroom had a screened door leading to the garden outside, enabling servants to enter, tend to baths and leave without disturbing the occupant.
In 1937, the house was bought by oil man and philanthropist, Ray Milner. His second wife, Veronica was a talented gardener; she acquired many trees and shrubs for the property while accompanying her husband on business trips, and shaped the gardens into a botanical showplace. Veronica was the widow of Desmond Fitzgerald, 28th Knight of Glin, County Limerick, Ireland and a descendent of the First Duke of Marlborough, and related to Diana, Princess of Wales.
Milner House has been the host to royalty: in May 1986, then Prince Charles and Lady Diana visited and had lunch there.Then in October, 1987, the Queen and Prince Philip came to stay for a couple of days.
Before leaving, the Queen planted a Spanish chestnut in what is now the Queen’s Garden and Philip planted a maple tree just outside the garden gates. The house has expanded over the years, with a large veranda, new garage and studio space added in 1968.
Closeup: The Architectural Legacy of Simon Little
Simon Little arrived in Hilliers in 1913 with the intention of establishing a chicken farm here. He and his wife Dora had two children, Robert, in 1918 and Elizabeth in 1924. By the late 1920s, times had become tough for small farmers and Simon, having been trained as a marine architect in Scotland, took up designing homes, first for friends, then for local contractor Alex Fraser. He went on to be Qualicum's business architect for the next three decades. Images, beginning at the top left: 1. The cottage he designed for his family in Coombs reflecting Cape Cod style shingle siding and Tudor revival elements: twin front-facing gables, decorative timbering and tall multi-paned windows. These would become recurring features in his designs through the years. 2. Simon "Sam" Little in his workshop on Hoy Lake Road. He had an arrangement of pigeon holes above his desk, holding his many projects: homes, retail and public buildings, farmhouses, and churches, many of which are still around today. Sam Little also designed buildings in Courtenay, Port Alberni, Nanaimo, and Kitimat. 3. The house at Milner Gardens, one of Sam's first designs in 1929. It was built for General Noel Money's sister Hilda Bayley in the style of a Ceylonese Tea Plantation as the Bayley's has once owned one. 4. Eaglecrest clubhouse, originally one of the many farm buildings on Senator A.D. McRae's Eaglecrest in 1935, in once held 50 of the Senator's prize shorthorn cattle. 5. Community Hall, designed 1933, scene of countless whist drives, dances, sports and theatre. The long, gracefully sloping roofline was another Sam Little trademark. 6. Grey Shakes, one of Sam's first designs in 1928. The Cape Cod style wood-shingle cladding and roof oxidized to a silver gray in the salty, seaside air. The steeply pitched roof and gables and windows in different sizes reflect the old-world elegance of Tudor revival. Local architect David Spearing said that with Gray Shakes, Sam Little had created the beginning of a real West-Coast style. 7. St. Andrew's Lodge, designed in 1928. Designed with two front facing gables, echoing the architect’s first home in Coombs. Initially the Littles slept in tents to maximize profits, and then every couple of years they added a new cottage to the property, each of which had the word Glen in it, meaning “valley” in Scotland: Glen Elg, Glen Sheil, Glen Rosa, etc. – 8 cottages altogether. St Andrews grew to be enormously popular for generations of holiday-makers. 8. The Qualicum Bakery, designed by Sam Little for my grandfather Jack Miller in 1933. Sam has once again incorporated a curved roofline, lending elegance to the building. In the 1990s the building housed the Sandpebbles Restaurant. 9. St. Stephen's church, 1941. When this photo appeared in a national magazine, it became a model for small churches in Canada. Sam was brought up Church of Scotland, very religious, so he didn’t charge for designing churches, and consequently was very busy with them.
Closeup: The Morgan Hotel
The hotel, originally known as ‘Beach House’ was built in 1923 for Thomas Garfield Morgan. It opened yearly from June to September, and had a reputation for excellent food and gracious living. The Morgan catered to retired folks and families, who returned year after year to the same rooms, usually for 2-week stays. Mrs. (Annie) Morgan would greet guests on arrival and remembered all of their names and stories. She answered letters and inquiries in a formal, old-fashioned style. Morgan owned all the property between his hotel and the Island Highway, so created a putting green (the fenced area, center) and built a garage for guests. This was later renovated for use as staff quarters; after WWII, it was enlarged and remodelled and became the home of the Morgan’s son Peter and his family. The Morgan had become a private home by 1979 and was razed a couple of years ago; the smaller building is still there between Burnham Road and the Island Highway. Photo: BC Archives.
There were 16 tables in the dining room, always covered with white linen tablecloths with centerpieces of fresh flowers and white cone-folded napkins. Each server had 4 tables assigned to her and looked after the same people for their entire stay. Servers had to memorize guests’ orders, not write them down, as this was considered classier. There were 5 large dining room windows facing the sea to optimize views of the sparkling waters. Seating in the dining room followed a strict protocol: Mrs. Morgan escorted new guests to tables at the back of the restaurant. They might be moved closer to the front as years passed, but getting a seat at one of the 4 tables at the large, view windows was a privilege most guests never attained.
Closeup: The Tea Garden
The Morgan family’s first venture, before their hotel, was a tea garden, pictured here, located right on the Island Highway.
Garfield Morgan had been appointed Quartermaster at the Qualicum Military Hospital in 1919. Initially, the family lived in rooms in the back of the Qualicum Beach Hotel boathouse, which contained boats for the use of the soldier patients. The well for water was located on the other side of the Island Highway. The Morgans moved temporarily to more commodious quarters, but by 1920, the boathouse had been renovated, was now connected to the town’s water system, and the family moved back in. Anne Morgan decided to open a tea room, which she called the Tea Garden. She served Welsh cakes as a nod to her homeland. The building that housed the Morgans and their tea room is still there, much remodeled, third home from the eastern end of the seawall. Photos courtesy Betty Strome.
Photos left to right: The Morgans having tea on the veranda of the Tea Garden; The first plane to land at Qualicum Beach, circa 1921; Garfield Morgan rowing the pilot ashore
Closeup: Qualicum War Memorial
In May, 1946, a committee was struck to create a District War Memorial park and cenotaph at the Qualicum waterfront.
700 ft. of waterfront property was donated by QB Inn owner E.L. Boultbee and Simon Little drew up the plans for the esplanade, which would stretch from the Qualicum Bakery at the north end, south to the beachfront area opposite Dougan’s garage (now the Shell station). Little’s design, which included a reinforced concrete retaining wall and three large plots of land containing grass, flower beds and ornamental trees, would transform the log-strewn beach into a ‘beauty spot’ to commemorate those who lost their lives in the wars. By August, 1947, the War Memorial Committee’s door-to-door campaign had raised the $5000 needed to build the park and the following year, the site was cleared of logs, graded and ditched. The first Armistice Day service at the site took place on Nov. 11, 1949. Over the years, due to often-blustery November weather, the double doors of the mechanic bays at Dougan’s large garage were thrown open and the Armistice services were held there; as veterans aged, services moved uptown.
Closeup: Island highway
Here is the intersection of the Island Highway and Crescent Road East in 1945 and today.
In the old photo signs direct people to the Qualicum Beach Hotel ½ mile, the Sunset Inn and the Morgan Hotel. The large house on the highway is the old Connelly place, still standing today on Burnham – the roof and chimney are just visible in the present-day photo. The highway was just tarred in 1945; blacktopping took place around 1950. Note how the trees at the corner in the 1945 photo have grown in 75 years. Photo courtesy John Miller.
Closeup: Valhalla
The lovely Edwardian house with the distinctive paired porch columns at 210 Crescent Road West was built in 1913 for the first manager of the Qualicum Beach Inn, R. Thompson Tinn.
The large living room, panelled with an ornamental plate rail circling the walls, had a beamed ceiling and a large fireplace capable of taking a 4-ft log, essential in the days before central heating. The house served as the nurses’ residence during WWI when the QB Inn became a convalescent home for returning soldiers. For many years, it was known as ‘The White House’ because of its colour. Its many owners include General Money (when his own house was under construction), the Morgan family, the Kennedys and the Havemeyers, who installed a bathtub the size of a small swimming pool to accommodate the 6’ 7” Mr. Havemeyer. George and Eve Knight were long-time owners and in more recent years, Reg and Lill Dill, who named the house ‘Valhalla,’ meaning ‘final resting place for brave and noble Vikings where good food, music and friendships are shared.’ Valhalla was willed to the Town of Qualicum in the late 1990s and is now home to the Oceanside Hospice Society. In January, 2010 it was formally recognized as one of Canada’s Historic Places.
Closeup: Grandview Camp
Grandview Camp is where my family used to stay when we vacationed at Qualicum in the 1960s.
Established in the early 1940s by Jean and Fraser George, the Grandview had one and 2-room cabins on the highway side and 4 and 5-room cottages on the beach. There was a camp store with a lunch counter along with a wooden dance floor. A novel innovation was the supply of “Whoopies” – a combination of boat and raft – and you could also rent bicycles. The Grandview was located east of the Shady Rest on the main part of the beach (there’s a park there now). There was once a small road that led up to the Crescent Motel (also owned by the Georges) on property high above the beach and Mr. George would ride up and down the steep slope in his 4x4 truck. Image MSC130-08491-01 courtesy of British Columbia Postcard Collection, a digital initiative of SFU Library.
Closeup: The Log Cabin
Built in 1925, the Log Cabin Inn was very popular with visitors and locals alike because it offered a little of everything. Swimmers could come right up to the wide verandah facing the beach at high tide. You could get candy and ice cream, teas and home-cooked meals.
There was a fine dining room, and a large hall that was used for dances and ‘picture show nights.’ The dances, featuring live bands from Nanaimo, were a big hit - some young men walked all the way from the sawmill in Nanoose to attend. At one time, Beach Creek ran underneath the building – if you opened a trap door during spawning season you could see fish jumping. The Inn offered four cabins, and you could get fishing equipment, boats, canoes and advice about local conditions. In the 1940s, the dance hall was repurposed for use as a roller rink until a storm damaged the hall in the mid-1950s. The Log Cabin was torn down in the 1970s to make way for the Sandpebbles Motel. Image MSC130-4773-01 courtesy of the British Columbia Postcards Collection, a digital initiative of Simon Fraser University.
Walking tours are on!
The Town Tour tells the story of Qualicum’s beginnings, our pioneers and first merchants and takes a up-close look at our many lovely heritage buildings. The Crown Tour describes Qualicum’s glamourous heyday as an internationally renowned resort, featuring the old QB Inn, golf course and Crown Mansion. Tours run Thursday, Friday and Saturday - PM me through this site to book. For Tuesday Tours book through the Qualicum Beach Museum and partial proceeds go to the Museum.
Closeup: Eaglecrest
What we know today as Qualicum’s Eaglecrest Golf Course was once the setting for a grand lodge and farm, the magnificent vision of Senator A.D. McRae. The lodge (pictured here) once stood across the street from what are today, 933 and 936 Bluff Drive.
Senator McRae was many things: military man, land speculator, prominent industrialist and farmer. He liked to do things big, and Eaglecrest lodge, made of specially peeled cedar logs, was truly titanic, spanning nearly 60 m (200 ft.) long and 15 m (50 ft.) deep. It boasted four massive stone fireplaces, and a sweeping view of mountains and ocean.
The inside was equally grand. At the center of the lodge was the spacious living room, with a fireplace that reached the to the top of the soaring, 8 m (27 ft.) ceiling. The room was lavishly furnished with hand-made furniture, valuable antiques and imported, hand-woven rugs.
The great lodge was McRae’s headquarters for Qualicum Farms Limited which extended for several miles along the waterfront.
Senator McRae passed away in 1946, and two years later, the lodge and estate were bought by Leonard Boultbee, a real estate man from Vancouver. He turned Eaglecrest into a posh holiday retreat. Guests paid from $20 to $50 a day for the lodge experience (pricey at that time). The place was so exclusive, staff checked the social standing of guests by calling the prospective guest’s home town.
Guests dined by candlelight at the long, English refectory table in the baronial dining room. Massive, metal-studded doors opened on a bar of burnished copper, and 5-branched, wrought-iron torchères flanked the fireplace.
For guests enjoying lunch at the luxurious country retreat on March 23, 1969, the disaster that was about to unfold was far from their minds. A fire broke out near the chimney of the main fireplace, and it was soon out of control. A hastily formed bucket brigade, a sprinkler system, and 25 volunteer firemen – hampered by a lack of water and equipment – could not quell the blaze.
After the fire, all that stood were four towering stone fireplaces and chimneys, haunting testaments to Eaglecrest’s one-time grandeur.
In July of the following year, a new Eaglecrest Lodge – close replica to the original – rose from the ashes. Three years later, Boultbee persuaded the Town of Qualicum to invest in a 1,500-gallon tank truck for the volunteer fire department, and to extend fire protection to his estate. Despite these measures, on July 10, 1981, the replica Eaglecrest went up in flames. It was never rebuilt.
Closeup: The Qualicum College Inn
...........How a British style boarding school became the setting for medieval feasts, a Hollywood movie and all that jazz
The Qualicum College operated as a private school for boys from 1935 to 1970, British-style, like its founder, Robert Ivan Knight, with a focus on high academic standards, sports and rigorous discipline. Upon closing the College, Knight envisioned the sea-side premises as an ideal setting for a boys' summer camp.
But entrepreneur Mike Dyde had other ideas.
The Qualicum College Inn opened its doors as a 20-room hotel on May 5, 1972. Owners Mike Dyde and Kerry Keilty melded remnants of the old college days with medieval motifs. One could enjoy a drink in the ‘Prefect’s Lounge, and the Old Boys’ Dining Hall was hung with photos from the school’s archives. The restaurant meal comprised five ‘removes’ – the medieval term for courses. The Manor House Country Soup was ladled from a table-side cauldron into wooden bowls, and the ’Squire’s Serving’ of meat – chunks of beefsteak and lamb – were eaten with a hunting knife. The College Inn’s semi-annual Jazz Weekend was a popular draw, featuring jazz greats such as George Shearing, Cannon Ball Adderley and Ramsay Lewis.
In the summer of 1977, the College Inn became the setting for a made-for-TV movie, Ants! The local Qualicum Beach volunteer fire department played an integral role, rescuing beleaguered guests from the ant-ridden Inn.
In the same year, Dyde and Keilty proposed a convention center and tourist facility on 3 1/2 acres close to the Inn, designed like a Tudor Village with shops, boutiques, and spaces for craftspeople and artists. Neighbourhood residents raised concerns about increased noise and traffic, and the idea was shelved.
Postcard image of the Qualicum College Inn courtesy of Laurel Lahay, Campbell River.
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